Escort Service
by Kirby's Cowgirl
Summary: Saunders has to eat a little crow.


Escort Service

The men were frozen in place, waiting for Saunders orders. They didn't know what their mission was, he hadn't told them. All of them were on hyper alert. It seemed like minutes ago that Caje had signaled "DOWN".

"Hold your fire, Saunders!" an authoritative voice called.

Saunders held up his hand for the squad to wait, but be ready.

Then, "Kirby!"

The sound of Alex's voice had him groaning out loud before he could stop himself. What in the hell was she doing this far forward?

Jackson and Alex emerged from the brush, and Alex headed for Kirby when Jackson stopped at Saunders.

"ALEX." Saunders said, warningly.

"Okay." She sighed, and stopped.

Jackson waved her on. "Go ahead." She was going to pitch a fit when she found out what he was going to do. A few minutes with Kirby might alleviate her temper a little, though he doubted it.

"I need you to take Alex back to HQ."

"With all due respect, we already have an important mission, sir." Saunders said thru clenched teeth. He was _not_ going to babysit Alex, damn it!

"The Krauts blew your bridge two hours ago. They've started a major push."

Saunders looked at Jackson, realized he was telling him the truth. "They _blew_ it?"

Both of them knew what that meant. No retreat. This was a last ditch effort forward by the Germans. They would need every rifle they could get on their side.

"I can spare Littlejohn." Saunders said grudgingly.

"Your squad is going to take Alex back to your HQ. And one of _your_ men will escort her all the way to the rear." At Saunders raised eyebrow. "Any of them would give their lives for her. It may come down to that. She has vital intel that _can not_ be lost." He reached in his jacket and pulled out an oilskin wrapped packet. "Give this to her when you get her back to your HQ. She'll know what to do with it. Do _not_ -"the look he gave Saunders told him he meant business, "give it to anyone else. We have a major leak somewhere. God forbid, if something happens to Alex, you get it to Jampel, _yourself_. No Hanley, nobody in between."

"Sir, Lieutenant Hanley is not your problem." Saunders said thru clenched teeth.

"Hanley is not a problem." Jackson agreed. "But somebody superior to him is. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Saunders said. The day had gone to hell in a handbasket.

Alex had kissed Kirby and held him for just a second. He was filthy and he _smelled_. She figured that she did too. She squeezed McCall and Doc's hands, hugged Littlejohn, and nodded to Caje.

"Saddle up." Saunders called. Pointed in the opposite direction. "Caje, take the point."

"Wait a minute." Alex said, when Jackson started back the way they had come. "You _are not_ going by yourself."

"I need you to get that information to Jampel. I don't have time to argue with you."

"So you're going to get your fool self killed. By all means go be a hero, Rick!"

"Oops." Kirby thought. This was going to get ugly really fast. "Al, honey, sometimes we have to follow orders we don't like." he said. God, what was he going to do if Saunders told him he had to tie her up and carry her back? She would murder him.

"Alex-" Rick stopped. "If I don't come back, tell Sally I'm sorry."

She lunged forward, grabbed his jacket, and kissed the hell out of him. Whatever she said must have upset Jackson, because Kirby thought the man had tears in his eyes.

"You take good care of her." Rick said huskily, looking at Kirby.

"Yes sir, I will." Kirby said, wondering what the man was going to try and do by _himself._ He and Saunders were cut from the same cloth.

Alex shouldered her rifle, and went back to her usual place in the line, between Littlejohn and McCall. Kirby knew she was furious, and she was crying, but not making any noise. Saunders gestured to Caje and they headed back for camp.

They had been walking for over an hour when Caje signaled "DOWN!" and Saunders almost groaned out loud. He should have known that this was not going to be easy. He signaled the others to stay put, double checked to see that Alex was between McCall and Littlejohn where she was supposed to be, and crawled up to the scout.

Caje was grinning, didn't seem too concerned. And when Saunders saw what they had, he almost grinned too. Unless it was an ambush- but he saw the slight head shake Caje gave him. Remembered what the scout had said on the way in. Deep ravine and impenetrable brush on two sides. He gestured to Caje to wait, crawled back to the rest of the squad.

He slid the oilskin packet out of his coat and handed it to McCall. "If everything goes to sugar, you get Alex and Doc all the way to the rear. Jackson's orders. Give that to Alex when you get to _her_ HQ, not before. If it comes down to it, you get that to Jampel _yourself._ Understood?" Hopefully Alex would think she was supposed to help protect Doc and not cause McCall any grief over leaving if it came down to it.

McCall slid the packet in his own coat, nodded. The whisper had been so quiet he knew that Alex and Doc hadn't heard.

As soon as Jackson had issued the order, Saunders had known it would have to be McCall. He couldn't, in good conscience, send Kirby. You wanted a guy who would just blend in and not create any more attention than necessary. Just some lucky sap who got tagged to get a WAC to the rear. Women getting caught on the front had always been an issue. Littlejohn was too conspicuous as big as he was. People remembered Caje, because frankly, most men were afraid of him. He wasn't endangering his men anymore than he had to.

"Kirby, Littlejohn, you're on me!" Saunders hissed, saw Alex slide up next to McCall with her rifle ready, putting herself in front of Doc. McCall put out a hand to her, but she'd already stopped.

Saunders gestured to Caje and they fanned out. "Hande Hoch!" he called, once they were in position. The two guards, who weren't even holding their weapons properly, froze, then did as they were told when they saw Kirby holding the BAR on them. The soldier under the hood of the broken down truck backed out from under it with his hands on his head, and Saunders gestured to the driver with his tommy. The man came out holding his hands up, then threw the truck keys into the brush. *

Littlejohn checked the men for weapons and he and Caje tied them up.

"You think you can fix it?" Saunders asked the scout, gesturing to the truck. He stepped apart and consulted his map. It would certainly make things a lot easier with all those prisoners if they could drive the truck part of the way. They would have to stay on the road, but he thought it was do-able. He looked up to see Caje was under the hood of the truck. Doc was re-packing his rucksack, keeping half an eye on the Krauts. McCall, and Littlejohn with the BAR, were guarding the prisoners. _Littlejohn with the BAR? Where the hell was Kirby? Where was Alex?_

He saw a tangle of bodies inside the truck. "OH HELL NO!" He was going to kill both of them .

"Just a little more honey." Kirby said.

Saunders grabbed a booted foot and yanked. "OW!" from Kirby.

"Shit! That's your trigger finger!" from Alex.

"It's ok, honey, it's ok. Get your splice." Kirby tilted his head from under the dash and shot Saunders a look, that plainly said, "_What in the hell is wrong with you?"_

_They were hot wiring the truck! _Saunders lost his footing in surprise, grabbed on the truck mirror. The others hadn't noticed that he had just made a complete and total fool of himself.

"Try it now, Caje!" Kirby called.

The truck engine whined for a second, then turned over and caught. "Doc!" Alex called as she crawled out of the truck. "I cut Kirby!"

"I'm ok, honey." Kirby said, wiping his finger on his filthy pants, totally missing her horrified look.

"My god, you're gonna get blood poisoning! DOC!"

"Let me see, Kirby." Doc said good naturedly, as he caught hold of Kirby's hand.

"I don't need -"

"Kirby, shut up." Doc said quietly. "She's upset that she cut you. She's had a bad day already and if you make her cry again, McCall and Littlejohn will beat the crap out of you."

"Shit." Kirby said, holding his hand up to give Doc better access to his finger. "It's nothing really."

Doc cleaned it and slapped a bandage on it. "It is to her. Make sure you tell her you _are_ ok."

"I think you better tell her, Doc. Please?"

"He's ok, Alex. It's just a nick." Doc said, and was totally shocked when she grabbed him and hugged him.

"When we get back, I need you to give Danny a pass for a couple days." Alex said to Saunders.

" In case you've forgotten, we've got a War on. Just because you and Kirby want to -" he suddenly realized what she had said. Who the hell was _Danny?_ He had never asked the squad their first names, never let himself get that close. He'd almost died when he thought he'd lost Grady. He couldn't go thru that again.

Alex was tapping her foot, and he had the sudden thought that if they _hadn't_ been in the middle of the War, she'd have dumped him on his ass. She was more than capable of it. He hadn't quite figured out how she'd knocked Kirby flat the night they'd mistaken her for a Kraut. Back home, he'd seen some of the guys on the docks use their feet in a similar fashion. But what she did was somehow different and more effective. He needed to ask her to teach Louise how to do that. He had lost what little was left of his mind.

William G. Kirby introduced himself to everybody. He thought probably half the men in the Army knew Kirby's name. And Caje -

"My name is Paul Lemay." He heard the words in his head. _Steiner._

For just a second there was a look of raw terror on Saunders face and it worried Alex. And then it was gone.

"I don't know which one is Danny." He said sheepishly.

"McCall's arm is getting infected. Doc said he won't go to the hospital because he's afraid they'll put him in another squad. When we get back to your HQ, somebody will still have to take me to mine. It might as well be Danny. I can get his arm checked out and give him something to do for a week, if that's what it takes. He _needs _to stay with you."

"Doc told _you_ that?"

Alex nodded, reached and squeezed his forearm. "I know you're scared."

Saunders didn't bother to correct her. She saw too much sometimes. That's just the way it was. He looked at Doc. He wasn't going to ask -

"Dwayne Orville Collier. That's why Doc fits. It _is_ his name." **

The grin was there before Saunders realized it, and Alex smiled back at him. "Littlejohn?"

"Jimmy. Caje's name is –"

"Paul Lemay." Saunders finished for her. "You read everybody's records?"

"I _asked _them. Well, I read Kirby's records, but only his."

At his disbelieving look, "He used to date a couple women in my command. I had to protect them. I don't know _your _name."

"I forgot it a long time ago." Saunders said. He had lost his mind. He was standing here exchanging pleasantries with a woman while his men loaded a truck with prisoners.

"So you make your girlfriends call you Sergeant Saunders in bed?" the little witch actually _grinned_ at him.

Kirby, stepping around the truck, heard her. "Alex! Alex you can not say things like that!" His mouth opened and closed several times, then, "I'm sorry, Sarge. I don't know what gets in to her sometimes. Alex, you be quiet!" he shook his finger at her.

Saunders had to bite his jaw to keep from laughing. He loved seeing Kirby at a loss for words. He had a feeling that Alex West had never done anything outrageous in her life until she met his BAR man. She had Kirby's number. She'd manage him just fine after the War, and Kirby wouldn't have a clue.

"I'm sorry, Sarge. I really need to work on Alex's manners. It's just that -" Kirby stopped, then said, "She didn't have a Mama - hers died when she was really little - well _I_ had a good Mama - and I didn't -"

"Kirby, shut up." Saunders said. If the BAR man didn't, he was going to be rolling in the mud laughing. In the middle of a damn War zone. Tasked with babysitting an infuriating woman.

"I'm sorry, Sarge. She's a good woman, she just -"

"Kirby, SHUT UP!" Saunders took a deep breath. "Go help Caje!"

Kirby wasn't sure what he was supposed to help Caje with, as he was already holding his BAR on the prisoners his buddy was loading in the truck, but he shrugged, and moved closer to the truck. Even though he'd been talking to Saunders, his eyes had been on the Krauts, and he was still doing his job. He glanced back, and saw the Sarge was holding his stomach. Maybe he didn't feel good. Oh… Maybe he had the runs. And with Alex around, well….

Saunders stepped behind some brush to try and get hold of himself. He put his hand over his mouth so the guys wouldn't hear the laughter that he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Oh, geez." Kirby thought. "Poor Sarge. I better ask Doc if he's got any more of that medicine."

"Alex, when we get home, I need you to -" Saunders stopped. He had no right to ask the woman anything. He had sworn that if this damn War was ever over, he would be glad to see the last of William G. Kirby. Now the thought of never seeing Kirby again was almost, _almost_ as bad as the thought of never seeing Louise or his Mother.

"You ok, Blondie?" Alex asked gently. The War was even taking a toll on him. She looked over at the squad to give him time to pull himself back together. Hanley was headed their way, and if he opened his stupid mouth before Saunders managed to ask her whatever it was that he couldn't bring himself to say, she was going to kick the man where the sun didn't shine.

"Would you please teach my sister how to do whatever that thing is that you do with your feet?" Saunders said in a rush. The atrocities he'd seen over here. He almost shuddered. His sweet sister had _no_ idea. If anyone ever tried to hurt her -

Alex could make a game of it, "Let's take your big brothers down." And Louise would have no idea that she was being trained to protect herself. He needed to teach her how to shoot too, he realized. He would have to find a way to explain to his Mother that it was necessary.

"I'd be glad to, Sergeant Saunders." Alex said formally. She'd had the horrid feeling that he was going to crack. Whatever was bothering him - She was going to tell Jampel to back off on the 361st a little.

"My name is Chip." Saunders said suddenly, and thrust out his hand to her. Like he was embarrassed. He had let her see something of himself that he kept carefully hidden.

"Nice to meet you Blondie." Alex said, taking his hand in both of hers, and leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Thanks for keeping my guys safe." She said in his ear, a second before a booted foot wrapped behind his knee. "Never _ever_ trust a woman." she said. She could have dropped him on the ground, he was totally unprepared. "Caje can show you how to do this, but I'll be glad to teach your sister all I know."

Hanley looked at them, opened his mouth, saw the glare that Alex was giving him and decided it would keep. He didn't trust that woman not to shoot him. In the back. And the squad might just throw him in a ditch and cover him up. She and that damn Sally Tavish -

** Used with permission from Miss Donna (little sis)

* I 'm not positive that German army trucks used keys. For this story, they do


End file.
